I will try to post some tonight. I can't wait to get home a play it. HMM HMMM I think I feel my throat getting sore...might be the flu.... I'd better go home from work early...wouldn't want to give anybody else the "FLU". ;-)

Olie, It's probably not a "different finish", but instead where Alembic rubbed out the gloss/poly finish for their "satin" finish neck. Someone gave me a bottle of Flitz polish and I used it on my bass' glossy finished body and satin neck with equally fine results.

Well I held out, even went by the gym on the way home and worked out for an hour. Ate dinner, then went into my music, tuned it up, plugged it in and I am now convinced that I have some more work to do on the 98 Mk with the Eurpoa elects I bought a month ago. This bass THUMPS!!!!

Played this bass at church Sunday and WOW, it sounds incredible. But man I really got to clean up my playing you hear everthing! I have a F-1X coming in on Weds. and I am anxious to hear how it sounds through it. Not sure what kind of power amp to use yet. Any suggestions. I am leaning towards an SWR 750.

The QSC PLX series are very good power amps that don't add or subtract anything from the tone. I'm using the PLX2402 that has the capability to put out 2400 watts bridged into a 2 ohm load. I'm running 2 channels into separate 4 ohm cabinets and still get 700 watts which is plenty loud enough for any of my gigs.

Adam, I am playing through a 2x10 8 ohm & a 1x15 8 ohm , both SWR cabs. They are about 5 years old but still sound great. I currentlty have a SWR 750 amp that is also 5 years old. I will probably keep using the cabs but not the head. I want to use a straight power amp that doesn't altar the tone of the F-1X. I've used QSC before in my PA's and also on my bass rig. I have also used Crown. I think the Crown amps had a better sound but aren't as rugged and are much more exspensive to repair. I am leaning toward the SWR 750 power amp (no tone adjustment or pre-amp built in) because I have had excellent service out of the 750 head I have now.

Crown power amps are probly one of the most reliable amps in the world. Most every concert venue uses either crown or that company that sold out to Peavey. I can't remember their name. QSC is very good sonically with Alembic preamps/superfilters. Your cabs are fine but I would recommend adding a superfilter. This will give you the most flexibility tonewise and allow you either tube or solid state capability. I would stay away from SWR oops! I mean fender. There is nothing wrong with their product line but you are playing Alembic products now and it's time to wean yourself off of the off the shelf products.

OK , I know most of ya'll have seen both of these either here or on Bass Central. But I have both boys home now and just have to post pictures of my own. It's really wild to see the similarities and differances in these two. They may both be MK models but they play and sound totally differant. (Message edited by olieoliver on March 29, 2006)

How can you tell they're boys? (okay, I really don't want to start that, so let's just contemplate this quietly to ourselves, or not)

They are both beauties, and I can't decide which I prefer. While the flame on the K is exquisite, all that curly detail on the other is quite unique and spectacular.

You mention that they play, and sound, very different. Given the similar wood recipes, it would be great if you could comment on this further. It might also be nice to summarize the construction and electronics here, where we can see them side by side. For instance, it seems clear that on the left, we have a dummy hum canceller (not Series), but since I already screwed up once this week on electronics, I don't want to say anything more than that :-)

The one on the left has the Rougue/Europa electronics and the one on the right has the Signature elects. Someone had mentioned to me that the Europa elects. were an upgrade and I assume better but I like the sound of the Sig. better. I'm sure the wood mass being smaller on the one on the right has something to do with the sound too. It being a lot lighter is also a plus. I'll get some clips recorded with both and upload them to my web site then I'll post the link here so ya'll can here them forst hand. As for the playing differances, the one on the left has a custom neck. It is a little narrower at the nut and I believe a little wider at the body. It feels as though the neck is thinner (front to back) too. This gives it more of a Jazz bass feel which I prefer.(I was raised on a Jazz bass)But the body on it is pretty large so it is VERY HEAVY. Good thing I am not playing those 5 hour night any more, I'd look like Quasimodo LOL!

Bob, about the knowing if they're both boys. Well they do both sport a "G" string so I guess they could've been girls but they are both named "Mark". And I won't even mention the fact that both have something at the end of the neck that is also synonymous with a part of the male anatomy. But the main reason I call the both boys is, my wife would KILL me if I were to lay a hand on another woman! LOL

Ollie, I have a 2 Bag End 18" subs and ELF controller. I use them with a 2 X 10" (not BE) and have been happy. Our moderator Dave has the ELF and also has a BE 2 X 10" cabinet. I thought the setup sounded great. At 70 lbs or so the cabinets are a bit on the heavy side (10's and 18's).

Weight won't be a factor since they will probably stay at my church and maybe I'll get some for my music room at the house too. I'm going to look around town and see if anybody has some I can try. Thanks, Keith

I've uploaded a couple of mp3 clips of these 2 basses. I ran them both straight into my line in on my sound card (thats why there is only the left side of the stereo). I had bothe basses at full volume and both treble and bass at max. They sound very close the 98 MK is a little hotter. My playing is a little rusty so ya'll cut me some slack there OK. Click this link to hear them http://home.comcast.net/~olieoliver/

you're the second guy on this site to get pissed about that! that was photoshopped -- not at my request -- by my deranged webmaster. it was originally flying right-side up. the correct version used to be posted somewhere on the radioenigma.com website, but I can't find it now. man, maybe I should change it...

Hugh, I wasn't pissed at all. I just didn't understand what it represented. I do know that in the military that represents a distress sinal. I did see the photo on the link and it was right. So I'm cool.

Dave, Both basses sound very similar. The 98 is a little hotter than the 05 but the 05 has more punch when cranked up. I ran them straight into my sound card so the tone is right from the basses. I'm looking at an EMU 1820 PCI card and software for recording with my PC. Anyone here have any experience with EMU products.